i've tried and tried to use reason and ableton but i cannot figure either out for the life of me. not sure if i need any external instruments to plug into them or not, does anyone know if you can survive making beats with just your computer?

i started out on garageband and moved to logic, only because you can do a lot without having to buy any hardware or have any expensive plugins. does anyone else use logic here? i look up youtube tutorials and shit and i never really see people making hip hop beats on it, they're usually house and electronic

Just reading that stuff from earlier about why right-on-the-grid sounds unnatural, my tree fiddy: your heart is indeed a steady knock - its also two notes too, blood in blood out - nature mandates swing. The two chambers in the heart also have differing velocity like a lead and ghost kick. When you add that two-note knock to our need to breathe you get two sources of natural swing modulating the heart beat. those two things meshing are the source of life for us. That's why i think we gravitate towards that breathing swing in music.

Just reading that stuff from earlier about why right-on-the-grid sounds unnatural, my tree fiddy: your heart is indeed a steady knock - its also two notes too, blood in blood out - nature mandates swing. The two chambers in the heart also have differing velocity like a lead and ghost kick. When you add that two-note knock to our need to breathe you get two sources of natural swing modulating the heart beat. those two things meshing are the source of life for us. That's why i think we gravitate towards that breathing swing in music.

I still think its cause on-grid-shit feels like times when the human body is stressed or unhealthy that's why it sounds so devoid of life.

Just throw this in here now instead of hints, Your body is an electric energy pattern which is made of light, it has 7 points called Chakras, if these spin the wrong way you will become ill, each chakra resonates to a certain frequency, each chakra is one of the colours of the rainbow, depending what sound your body absorbs can affect your emotion and what way your energy is going to rotate, Going on Stage? feel a bit Sick? need to get it out of your SYSTEM (it's in the phrase) need to take a shit, or throw up, same with Job interviews, news your going to be a dad, or you have lost someone close, or you know your in deep shit full stop. It's fear it operates in your stomach, this feeling is exactly that your Red Chakra in your body is spinning the wrong way, making you feel, that you must get rid of it. Take this a step further, and really think about the production of mainstream music, how does it make you feel, I cringe, bunch my hands, grit my teeth, shoulders tighten up, until it's turned down or off, Music and sound can be used to heal or it can do the opposite. Mainstream science is not going to tell you this in school for a hell of a lot of reasons,

This second vid shows sound holding a soft substance in a position, Take that to a monstrous stage of, say planet earth, could well be possible that a frequency is holding everything together, just depends how you tune in to it and if you have looked at these vids you now know that it's not just a cool idea or possible theory. So just to finish off. take time full stop, it does not exist, it can't do, it is always now, I wrote this now, your reading this now regardless of what time it says on your clock,

Just throw this in here now instead of hints, Your body is an electric energy pattern which is made of light, it has 7 points called Chakras, if these spin the wrong way you will become ill, each chakra resonates to a certain frequency, each chakra is one of the colours of the rainbow, depending what sound your body absorbs can affect your emotion and what way your energy is going to rotate, Going on Stage? feel a bit Sick? need to get it out of your SYSTEM (it's in the phrase) need to take a shit, or throw up, same with Job interviews, news your going to be a dad, or you have lost someone close, or you know your in deep shit full stop. It's fear it operates in your stomach, this feeling is exactly that your Red Chakra in your body is spinning the wrong way, making you feel, that you must get rid of it. Take this a step further, and really think about the production of mainstream music, how does it make you feel, I cringe, bunch my hands, grit my teeth, shoulders tighten up, until it's turned down or off, Music and sound can be used to heal or it can do the opposite. Mainstream science is not going to tell you this in school for a hell of a lot of reasons,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtiSCBXbHAghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIUThis second vid shows sound holding a soft substance in a position, Take that to a monstrous stage of, say planet earth, could well be possible that a frequency is holding everything together, just depends how you tune in to it and if you have looked at these vids you now know that it's not just a cool idea or possible theory. So just to finish off. take time full stop, it does not exist, it can't do, it is always now, I wrote this now, your reading this now regardless of what time it says on your clock,

Goose this is not aimed at you personally, I can come over quite full on when I explain stuff like this, read it as if it's a seminar for everyone. And how the hell did I quote myself

Really didn't see much use of technique in link rusts track, thought S.F.T had a nice track put together, but most if not all of the song (at least to me) seems to be made up of synth, drum and bass that were all acquired outside of the samples, so in terms of showing us versatility with the samples given, i just don't hear it, and that could be because i'm stupid, or because i'm truthful and I feel like this should be a battle about more than just making a good beat, it should be about showing technique and working with the one thing you get every week and that is the samples that are givin. Anyone of us can make a good track with synth and outside sounds. Just sayin.

Anyway if this is a consistent issue in the future, i'm going to keep making beats from the samples, but i'm not going to enter the battles anymore because this is a producers battle, and i don't think the best produced beat is winning these every week.

CheersD-Inventa.

First and foremost - this beat battle I feel isn't something we need to take too seriously. I try to have fun with the beats I make and hope people enjoy it.

One thing that i disagree with is ' I feel like this should be a battle about more than just making a good beat,'. I think these battles are all about making something dope. I've read different comments on SC about how this and that sounds like dilla etc and we need to be more experimental etc but I've heard way too many wack experimental beats. Guess its just my taste. But I'd rather hear some swinging drums over dope chops any day over some weird sounding experimental stuff. With that said I'd encourage people to experiment but I'd discourage people trying to downplay something that sounds dope just because its not original or unique.

And Im not sure where you're coming with with all this 'use of technique' talk. If the rules allow for outside sounds/synths to be used than I'd encourage people to utilize this to make their beats better. If you wanna just stick to samples thats cool too. But unless the rules don't allow outside sounds, I don't feel its valid to point this out as not being 'technical' with your production.

I find responding to this post kind of funny cause I feel like we're building a mountain out of a molehill but I've noticed some of the attitudes towards these beat battles as being quite rigid and serious which I feel isn't useful at all. It's just an online beat battle right? It's more of a showcase than a battle.

First and foremost - this beat battle I feel isn't something we need to take too seriously. I try to have fun with the beats I make and hope people enjoy it.

One thing that i disagree with is ' I feel like this should be a battle about more than just making a good beat,'. I think these battles are all about making something dope. I've read different comments on SC about how this and that sounds like dilla etc and we need to be more experimental etc but I've heard way too many wack experimental beats. Guess its just my taste. But I'd rather hear some swinging drums over dope chops any day over some weird sounding experimental stuff. With that said I'd encourage people to experiment but I'd discourage people trying to downplay something that sounds dope just because its not original or unique.

And Im not sure where you're coming with with all this 'use of technique' talk. If the rules allow for outside sounds/synths to be used than I'd encourage people to utilize this to make their beats better. If you wanna just stick to samples thats cool too. But unless the rules don't allow outside sounds, I don't feel its valid to point this out as not being 'technical' with your production.

I find responding to this post kind of funny cause I feel like we're building a mountain out of a molehill but I've noticed some of the attitudes towards these beat battles as being quite rigid and serious which I feel isn't useful at all. It's just an online beat battle right? It's more of a showcase than a battle.

Just some thoughts.

Okay fair enough. i don't know why you're calling out experimental hip hop as being garbage, i think that's a pretty undisguised attempt at being rude towards me but that's cool, i don't know you, and you don't need to show respect to someone you don't know i guess. You didn't really address my post, you just took a defensive stance based on what you pulled out of my post which somehow to you translated to your beat being sub-par or something like that. I'm saying it's a good beat, but i'm also saying that this is a producers beat battle, and it should say something about your technique so as to show us how skilled you are when the majority of your beats melody is built of the same sample that all of us have to use. To each his own. I didn't make it a big deal, i simply stated the truth from my perspective, and it's the first time i've done so, and i've taken part in a few of the battles. Good job.

A beat, or a "hip-hop instrumental" is really just half a song since it needs that space for the vocals to be put in. "Instrumental hip-hop" is different. I think we blur that line around here a lot, and that's cool. By and large, the cats that seem to get tons of love and win battles are the ones that strike the vital sonic nerve which causes us bliss (through our own subjective perceptual filters of course) by whatever means necessary. I doubt any amount of reasoning will change that.

From an outside perspective D-Inventa, it didn't really sound like SFT was calling your music wack or experimental.

Anyway if this is a consistent issue in the future, i'm going to keep making beats from the samples, but i'm not going to enter the battles anymore because this is a producers battle, and i don't think the best produced beat is winning these every week.

Perspective is key here because the only way this will be "a consistent issue" is if it is in your own head. Savvy key players will not stop making infectious music, they'll only briefly subside on weeks with no outside sounds allowed. So mote it be.

A beat, or a "hip-hop instrumental" is really just half a song since it needs that space for the vocals to be put in. "Instrumental hip-hop" is different. I think we blur that line around here a lot, and that's cool. By and large, the cats that seem to get tons of love and win battles are the ones that strike the vital sonic nerve which causes us bliss (through our own subjective perceptual filters of course) by whatever means necessary. I doubt any amount of reasoning will change that.

From an outside perspective D-Inventa, it didn't really sound like SFT was calling your music wack or experimental.

Perspective is key here because the only way this will be "a consistent issue" is if it is in your own head. Savvy key players will not stop making infectious music, they'll only briefly subside on weeks with no outside sounds allowed. So mote it be.

I have no desire to drag anything out, but to address your opinion real quick. Check the genre tag on my track, when giving a perspective you need to actually acquire and understand the facts. If you're gonna be disrespectful S.F.T the least you can do is be a man about it when you get called-out for it, instead of covering your tracks. People make honest mistakes in the heat of the moment, and I get that, and i have no bad feelings towards you.

You're exactly correct when you say that savvy key players will make good music regardless, and again, that's not the point i'm trying to contest. In fact, i'm saying the exact same thing while explaining that challenging yourself, and taking yourself out of your comfort zone and working with the given samples to make a backbone for your beat or to flesh out the atmosphere/ambient sounds seems to be the point of what these battles are. TO show us your versatility at chopping and flipping and sample when compared to others. If it were any other way, what sense would it make to even provide samples? Why not just let the ppl who are participating pick their own beat to sample? I mean for extreme cases, we should add a new rule category that states whether you're allowed to build a track around synth of your choice alone because at the end of the day that is not the image the current instructions portray.

You can call this bitching or fussing, but at the end of the day, i like these battles, i take part in them for that exact reason, and a bit of constructive criticism as to the way things are run from someone who partakes time and again without issue should be taken into consideration rather than shat on because ppl think i'm having an ego issue. I make my music for myself and my fans because i like what I make. For me a win wouldn't mean anything beyond the fact that i was able to take something and flip it, add more sounds and make it better than my peers. Anyway, that's all i have to say about this permanently. Enjoy the weekend folks.

You're exactly correct when you say that savvy key players will make good music regardless, and again, that's not the point i'm trying to contest. In fact, i'm saying the exact same thing while explaining that challenging yourself, and taking yourself out of your comfort zone and working with the given samples to make a backbone for your beat or to flesh out the atmosphere/ambient sounds seems to be the point of what these battles are. TO show us your versatility at chopping and flipping and sample when compared to others.

Gotcha. That stuff just seemes to me to be too personal and subjective to be able to believe it could be enforced or abided by on a broader scale.

If you like sample-only battles, you might take a peek at UGHH every now and then. Magnificent Butcher always picks the samples and there's always something good in there.

"You're exactly correct when you say that savvy key players will make good music regardless,"

Ehh,
I wouldn't go that far.

I know Jrotem and Scott Storch's stuff is popular now, but I'm not into flossy flourishy keyboarding beats just for their own technical sake unless it sounds good.

Punks jump up to get beat down is still a better beat then anything I've heard by Rotem or Storch.

But as far as beat battles, I think keys should be fair.

Maybe thats a guys strength and sample chopping is only an accesory.
Where another guy's strength is the chops but he's only a redumentary keyboard player.

The Chronic and Dre's stuff in general are an example of a keyboardist who just uses chops as a tool IMO.
But I wouldn't say that his library of beats is inarguably better then a sample based 45king or Premier.

I would suggest that the only inarguable requirement be that everyone includes the chosen sample in some form.

Just upgraded to Mountain Lion to be able to demo Reason 7. I guess, I will make use of it in tomorrows battle (324). I was using Reason from Version 1 up until 3 or 4 when I switched to the MPC and the Maschine later. So I'm really impressed about how far it has come…

My question to all of you is: What do you normally start doing a beat with: drums or something else?

Also, maybe some of you has thoughts on my problem, here it is:

Due to life circumstances i haven't been able to make music for a year and now, when I'm ready to settle down to work, it feels like I totally forgot everything. Not only the placements of samples on my hard disc, but the key — how to find an inspiration and transform it.

Making music does not feel like an fascinating exploration anymore, it is more of an uneasy return to something that used to be so familiar and essential. All I do sounds so constrained.

Maybe you could remember what helped you advance in music the most? Any techniques, mind-broadening advices or yoga excersices for better inspiration will be greatly appreciated!

someone had questions about propellerheads reason, i can tell reason is a standalone software, so you dont need ( and u dont have until reason 6.5, and im still using 5) vst plugins or anything. just use the factory sounds and lookout for free refills. the only hardware needed, is a simple midi keyboard ( its no must have, but it makes things easier and a fuid workflow).
maybe i´ll make a lil vid of me , making a wack beat. my english aint the best and my beats too. but if anyone is interested .......

Cant get rewire to work properly so every time I wanna make a change in the beat I either do that in Cubase... or go back to Reason and export again...hmmm... possibly slowly evolving technical/mixing skills... happy to be evolving musically/compositionwise though...
Need time to write rhymes too... so can't go to deep into the engineering aspect...